English Online Dictionary. What means true? What does true mean?
English
Alternative forms
- trew, trewe (obsolete)
- troo (nonstandard)
- tr00 (leetspeak)
Etymology
From Middle English trewe, from Old English trīewe, (Mercian) trēowe (“trusty, faithful”), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (compare Saterland Frisian trjou (“honest”), Dutch getrouw and trouw, German treu, Norwegian and Swedish trygg (“safe, secure’”), from pre-Germanic *drewh₂yos, from Proto-Indo-European *drewh₂- (“steady, firm”) (compare Irish dearbh (“sure”), Old Prussian druwis (“faith”), Ancient Greek δροόν (droón, “firm”)), extension of *dóru (“tree”) (possibly also Proto-Slavic *sъdorvъ (“healthy”) from the same root). More at tree. For the semantic development, compare Latin robustus (“tough”) from robur (“red oak”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: trōō, IPA(key): /tɹuː/, [t̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷu̠ː]
- (archaic) IPA(key): /tɹjuː/
- (now dialectal) IPA(key): /tɹɪʊ̯/
- Rhymes: -uː
Adjective
true (comparative truer or more true, superlative truest or most true)
- (of a statement) Conforming to the actual state of reality or fact; factually correct.
- As an ellipsis of "(while) it is true (that)", used to start a sentence
- Conforming to a rule or pattern; exact; accurate.
- (logic) Of the state in Boolean logic that indicates an affirmative or positive result.
- Loyal, faithful.
- Genuine; legitimate; valid; sensu stricto.
- (biology) Used in the designation of group of species, or sometimes a single species, to indicate that it belongs to the clade its common name (which may be more broadly scoped in common speech) is restricted to in technical speech, or to distinguish it from a similar species, the latter of which may be called false.
- (of an aim or missile in archery, shooting, golf, etc.) Accurate; following a path toward the target.
- (of a mechanical part) Correctly aligned or calibrated, without deviation.
- (chiefly probability) Fair, unbiased, not loaded.
- (of a literary genre) based on actual historical events.
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “of a statement, logic, loyal”): false; see also Thesaurus:untrue
- untrue
Derived terms
Related terms
- truth
Translations
Adverb
true (not comparable)
- (of shooting, throwing etc) Accurately.
- (archaic) Truthfully.
Translations
Noun
true (countable and uncountable, plural trues)
- (uncountable) The state of being in alignment.
- (uncountable, obsolete) Truth.
- (countable, obsolete) A pledge or truce.
Derived terms
- in true
- out of true
Translations
Verb
true (third-person singular simple present trues, present participle trueing or truing, simple past and past participle trued)
- To straighten (of something that is supposed to be straight).
- To make even, level, symmetrical, or accurate, align; adjust.
Usage notes
- Often followed by up.
Derived terms
- true-up
Translations
Anagrams
- -uret, Treu, rute
Danish
Etymology
From Old Norse þrúga, Proto-Germanic *þrūgōną, cognate with Swedish truga. The verb is related to Danish trykke and German drücken (“to press”) (= *þrukkijaną), but apparently not to German drohen (“threaten”) (= *þraujaną) or English threaten (= *þrautōną).
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /truːə/, [ˈtˢʁ̥uːu], [ˈtˢʁ̥oːo]
Verb
true (past tense truede, past participle truet)
- to threaten
Conjugation
Further reading
- “true” in Den Danske Ordbog
- “true” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog
Middle English
Adjective
true
- Alternative form of trewe
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Old Norse þrúga.
Verb
true (imperative tru, present tense truer, passive trues, simple past and past participle trua or truet)
- to threaten
Derived terms
- truende
- utrydningstruet
Related terms
- trussel
References
- “true” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Alternative forms
- trua, truge
Etymology
From Old Norse þrúga.
Verb
true (present tense truar, past tense trua, past participle trua, passive infinitive truast, present participle truande, imperative true/tru)
- to threaten
Related terms
- trussel
References
- “true” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.